What good looks like — and what it costs when it doesn't
These are the numbers that define performance in the Australian retirement living sector. Most operators know something is off. These benchmarks tell you exactly where.
Average Sales Cycle Duration
The insight
The transition to a retirement village is a highly emotional, multi-stage family decision. The prospect researches for months. The family has multiple conversations. The timing depends on health, finances, and confidence — not urgency.
Your Digital Partner
Generalist agencies stop retargeting after 30 days, assuming the lead is dead. We build 18-month nurture architectures to match the true length of the decision cycle — so you're still visible when the family is finally ready to act.
PwC–RLC Retirement Census, 2024
Annual Waitlist Decay Rate
The insight
Without consistent engagement, nearly a third of a warm waitlist evaporates every year — prospects opt for home care, experience a health crisis, or choose a competitor who stayed top of mind. A waitlist is not a pipeline. It's a decaying asset.
Your Digital Partner
An automated engagement sequence plugs the 30% leak by keeping your waitlist warm through low-pressure, high-value content — without requiring a single manual touchpoint from your team.
Property Council of Australia
Cost Per Qualified Enquiry (CPA)
The insight
Operators are heavily overpaying third-party directories — high monthly subscription fees or steep success commissions on move-ins. Every lead from an aggregator costs you twice: the fee, and a family who found a competitor first.
Your Digital Partner
By implementing local search capture and direct enquiry infrastructure, we target a sub-$45 CPA — keeping your pipeline 100% direct and commission-free.
Sector operator data, 2024–25
Lead Response Time
The insight
In 2026, the adult daughter researching for her parent is doing it at 9pm on a Sunday. If she requests a brochure and has to wait until Tuesday for a manual email, she has already moved on to whoever responded first.
Your Digital Partner
Immediate automated delivery of floor plans, village guides and next-step information the moment they click submit — regardless of when they enquire.
Harvard Business Review lead response study
National Village Occupancy Rate
The insight
Australian retirement villages are effectively operating at full capacity — the highest occupancy rate since sector tracking began in 2014. Demand is structurally outpacing supply, with only 1,339 new ILUs delivered in 2024 against what's needed. The operators who convert enquiries efficiently win. The ones who don't are leaving waitlisted residents to choose competitors.
Your Digital Partner
At 96% occupancy, the competitive advantage is no longer about generating demand — it's about converting it faster than the village down the road. Speed and system quality determines who fills first.
Cushman & Wakefield Living Well Report, 2024
Average Resident Tenure
The insight
The average Australian enters a retirement village at 75 and stays for 8–9 years. Each resident represents significant long-term DMF revenue — meaning the financial cost of losing one prospect during a slow or broken enquiry process is far greater than the lost sale price alone.
Your Digital Partner
When you calculate the full DMF value of a resident who stays 8 years, the cost of a broken follow-up system isn't $0 — it's potentially hundreds of thousands per lost prospect. That's the real case for fixing the enquiry process.
PwC–Property Council Retirement Census, 2024
Resident Net Promoter Score
The insight
Retirement village residents consistently report high satisfaction — a sector NPS of +44 is comparable to or better than many consumer sectors. The problem: most operators have no system for converting that satisfaction into digital reviews, referrals, or new enquiries. The asset exists. It's just not being used.
Your Digital Partner
A structured resident satisfaction-to-referral system turns your happiest residents into your most effective marketing channel — generating direct, commission-free enquiries from people who trust your community because they know someone in it.
DCM Institute / Property Council Research
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